Cell phones: have benefits, cause distractions

Not only can we jet across the globe and maintain contact with our friends, but we can also stream movies, use the internet, calculate the tip we should leave the waiter on a restaurant bill, purchase clothing, take pictures, play games and do various other activities all using our cell, or mobile phones.

It's difficult to imagine a life without my blackberry phone.  I routinely send emails, check the time, or send text messages about 20 or more times an hour.  This use of this technology has become ingrained in my everyday life.  While I value my cell phone for helping me to stay in contact with siblings, family members and friends who live in various parts of the U.S., there are others who depend on their cell phones for their livelihood.

Banking transactions done on mobile phones are a striking way in which the evolution of cell phone technology has had unprecedented impacts.  This is demonstrated by new functions that allow money transfers to be sent via cell phones.  This is especially important when it comes to the remittances that immigrants, notably in the United States, send to their families back home.  Its estimated that with the use of this new system of money transfer that fewer than 10% of remittance recipients in Latin America have bank accounts.  This eliminates banks fees, processing and other sources that, in the end can diminish the amount of the remittance.  

The U.S. State Department estimated that in 2010 $3.5 billion dollars in remittances were sent from Salvadoran immigrants in the U.S. to their families back in El Salvador.  Cell phone technology undoubtedly played a significant role in this process.  Lowering the transaction costs, which is often done if remittances are sent via mobile phones, means that billions of dollars flow directly back to those who are the recipients of remittances, mainly economically struggling members of developing countries.  

While mobile phones are positive forces in the instance of remittance sending, they do have qualities that are less attractive.  These devices can be a large distraction.  They are often the co-conspirators or culprits of car-crashes and unintelligible conversations.  As mobile phone technology continues to develop and evolve, we become increasingly more dependent upon it and less aware of the harms that it could inflict on ourselves and others.  

It is nearly impossible to find a public space (in many countries) where a mobile phone is not clearly visible or in use.  Teenagers, who have been familiar with mobile phone technology basically since their infancy, send text, video and picture messages to one another, without lifting their eyes from their phones, or engaging in their surrounding environment.  A conversation with those who are engrossed in reading or writing a text message often involves a lot of repetition and frustration on the part of the speaker.  I have admittedly been the culprit, but more often the victim of these unintelligible conversations.

Dr. Frank Ryan, noted for being a plastic surgeon to the celebrities, died in 2010 while driving on the California highway as he sent a "tweet" from his mobile phone.  The surgeon drove off a cliff, most likely due to the fact that he was using Internet applications on his phone at the time and not paying attention to his surroundings.  This tragic death is related to the irresponsible use of mobile phones.

As we praise revolutionary mobile phone technology, we need to remind ourselves not to abuse it.  Mobile phones can be liberating in the way of sending remittances in a less complicated, expedited manner, but they can also captivate our attention so much as to a fault.